Joel David West, 27, of the 1000 block of East Eighth Street, is preliminarily charged with dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death, a Level 1 felony carrying up to 40 years in prison. He was being held without bond Friday in the Delaware County jail.

West is accused of selling the drug to John J. “Jake” Adams, 26, who died of an overdose in the victim's South Oakdale Drive home on Jan. 17.

According to reports, Yorktown Police Chief Todd St. John and officer Blake Barnard began an investigation of Adams' death in late January, and determined he and West had in Facebook Messenger communication discussed a meth transaction the day prior to the overdose.

Witnesses said West was at Adams' home in the early morning hours of Jan. 17. While there, he is alleged to have sold 0.15 grams of the drug to the victim for $15.

West, taken into custody about 8:45 p.m. Thursday, allegedly admitted to police he sold "ice" – a street term for meth – to Adams at the victim’s Yorktown home shortly before his death.

West would become the second person to face the dealing-causing-death charge in Delaware County.

In August, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Zach Craig charged Jessica May Campbell with that crime in connection with an heroin overdose that killed Ashley Nicole Rudisill, a 27-year-old Muncie woman.

Rudisill was eight months pregnant when she died, and the overdose also killed her unborn child. Campbell, now 31, is set to stand trial June 24 in Delaware Circuit Court 2.

In a release, Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman noted the dealing-causing-death charge was enacted by the Indiana General Assembly last year "as a tool for prosecutors across the state to hold those accountable who sell drugs to people that end up overdosing and dying."

Last July 20, the prosecutor’s office charged Rachelle L. Tucker, a local nurse, with murder in a Muncie man’s July 2017 fatal overdose.

Aauthorities allege Tucker sold that victim, 29-year-old Dustin Richard Rhodes, heroin, and then ordered an associate to remove Rhodes from the area of her home after he began to overdose. His body was later found near a southside intersection.

Tucker, now 30, is set to stand trial May 13 in Delaware Circuit Court 5.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.